HECTOR — Those who have ever wondered how Mary and Joseph may have felt as they navigated the streets of Bethlehem some 2,000 years ago have the chance to live their experience first-hand — and they won’t have to leave Pope County.

After a brief hiatus last year, Walk Through Bethlehem is back for its third year. Hosted by the Hector First Assembly of God, the event aims to provide visitors with as authentic of an Old World experience as possible.

“Our goal is just to reach out to people and to create an event that would be just like the night that Jesus was born,” First Assembly Pastor Shane Williams said. “... They will go through the city as a traveler that would go through on that night.”

A brochure promoting the event stated travelers can expect to “beware of the Roman soldiers patrolling the streets, register your family with the census taker at the gate, walk the crowded and narrow streets, visit the bustling marketplace and vendors busy in their shops, warm by the fire, see the shepherds watching their flocks and view the manger with baby Jesus wrapped in swaddling clothes.”

Walk Through Bethlehem will host a variety of live animals — including camels, donkeys, sheep and goats — in addition to a cast of more than 100.

Williams said visitors should dress warmly for the 25-minute tour, which promises to re-enact the sights and sounds of the night of Jesus’ birth.

Williams and his wife, Debbie, will be available to speak to attendees after the tour.

“My wife and I will be out here at the end,” he said. “We get to meet everybody that goes through, and we get to pray with them, so we think that’s a good thing.”

Preparation for the event begins in September, when Williams said church members begin sacrificing time on the weekends to put the show together.

“It could not be done without the people at our church,” he said. “... They are the greatest bunch of people that I’ve ever been around.”

Tours begin at 7 p.m. today and Thursday through Dec. 17. Admission is free. The church is located at 11421 State Highway 27 in Hector.

For more information, call 747-1693, 284-3026, 223-1040 or visit www.facebook.com/hectorwalkthroughbethlehem.